


By Any Other Name

by StarsCrackedOpen (Misthia)



Series: Things Carried, Unseen [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Developing Friendships, Explanations, Fluff and Humor, Force Bond (Star Wars), Gen, Light-Hearted, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Nicknames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misthia/pseuds/StarsCrackedOpen
Summary: Ahsoka raised her chin, defiant. “So you get to keep calling me Snips, but I can’t giveyoua nickname?”Anakin smirked. “That’s becauseI’mthe master, andyou’remy padawan.”Or: In which we find out whywedon’t see Ahsoka call Anakin “Skyguy” after a while. But that doesn’t mean she ever stopped.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano
Series: Things Carried, Unseen [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1839160
Comments: 8
Kudos: 191





	By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> So while I definitely make use of the nickname in my stories (as many fanfics do, and rightfully so), it’s worth noting that after the first half-dozen episodes or so Ahsoka pretty much stops calling Anakin “Skyguy,” while he continues to call her “Snips.”
> 
> But I can’t imagine that ever really went away entirely. It’s too good a nickname, and I honestly think that like “Snips,” it would become an endearment over time. As I recall, it even comes up in the comics much later. So I wrote an explanation. This takes place very shortly after the episode “Duel of the Droids” in S1 — the second in the two part arc where R2 is kidnapped and the droid assigned to Anakin turns out to be a spy. So in this series, probably not that long after “Gimme Shelter.”
> 
> As ever, I own none of this and make nothing from this. The title comes from the famous line by Shakespeare.

* * *

En route to the Ando system for a diplomatic mission, their final briefing had been delayed _twice_. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex had taken over an empty conference room on the cruiser in the meantime to prepare further.

Rex had disassembled his blaster and was cleaning and oiling it a few seats down the table. Ahsoka was sitting across from Anakin, with a few datapads scattered about her. She was reading, curled sideways in her chair, legs thrown over the arm. One bounced against the other absently.

Anakin frowned. He had a bad feeling about this mission already, and he wanted an exit strategy before they even went into the briefing. “Snips, pull all the charts for the Lambda sector—”

“Already done, Skyguy.” She slid a datapad over to him with a glance, looking pleased with herself. He tried not to groan at the recurrence of this... _pet name_ she had given him. Undeniably close as they were, he couldn’t even _imagine_ having given Obi-Wan a nickname as his padawan. Anakin reached for the pad and out of the corner of his eye, saw Rex’s lips twitch in amusement as he reassembled his weapon.

 _That’s it._ This had to stop before anyone else caught wind of it — Rex’s outright laughter on Christophsis and a whole squad snickering inside their helmets had been bad enough. He stood, heading for the door. “Ahsoka, with me.”

She hopped up, looking at Anakin curiously, and followed him down the corridor. He ducked into the next empty conference room. Ahsoka had barely crossed the threshold when Anakin hit the door panel and rounded on her, hissing. “You can’t keep calling me ‘Skyguy’!”

Ahsoka looked surprised, and then put out. “Why not? _You_ call _me_ ‘Snips’ all the time!”

True, but not the _point_.

He shook his head emphatically. “Hey, you _earned_ ‘Snips’!”

Ahsoka raised her chin, defiant. “So you get to keep calling me _Snips_ , but I can’t give _you_ a nickname?”

Anakin smirked. “That’s because _I’m_ the master, and _you’re_ my padawan.”

She crossed her arms and nearly pouted. “It still doesn’t seem very fair.”

Anakin tipped his head back, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands and cursing Obi-Wan for sticking him with what was undoubtedly the most _insolent_ —

His comlink beeped. He hit it a bit harder than necessary. “ _What_?”

As if he’d been summoned by the thought of his name, Obi-Wan’s voice came through, smooth and tranquil. _“Anakin. We’re going to start the briefing shortly.”_

Anakin’s eyes flicked over to Ahsoka briefly, her jaw still set. “We’re on our way.” He cut the transmission, and returned to the matter at hand.

They stared at each other for a long moment, each trying to out-stubborn the other.

Now that Anakin thought about it, Ahsoka seemed to give almost everyone she spent any amount of time around a nickname, and they didn’t seem to mind. Rex actually smiled when she occasionally addressed him as “Rexter.” Artoo chirruped happily when she called him “Artooey.” Even the traitor R3 unit, when it first showed up, had been embraced by her and dubbed “Goldie.”

Master Plo, who had never struck Anakin as particularly affectionate, called her “Little ’Soka” with clear fondness. Maybe that was where the habit came from and why.

And then _he_ had called her Snips, and it had stuck. And if Anakin was honest with himself — which he could be, _thankyouverymuch_ — if anyone _else_ started calling her that, he would probably object.

Anakin was strangely reminded of how he had felt when he first came to the Temple, and how cold and formal everyone seemed compared to his mother and even Qui-Gon. In ten years, he’d never quite acclimated to that formality.

It didn’t seem like Ahsoka had either, in spite of being raised there. Anakin suddenly felt like he’d learned something important about her, and it was more familiar than he wanted to dwell on.

She was still staring at him, and she felt slightly more... _guarded_...in the Force.

He just _knew_ he would regret it later, but Anakin sighed and relented. “ _Fine_. You can call me _Skyguy_. Just not in front of the troops. Or—” and here he suppressed a wince at the mere idea — “In front of the _council_. Or in front of _anybody_!”

Ahsoka regarded him for a moment, lips pursed and one of her —well, they weren’t really eyebrows, but seemed to serve the same purpose — cocked. She looked like she was going to argue again, and Anakin wondered what space-sickness had possessed him to propose this _nerf-brained_ compromise. He glared back, and it occurred vaguely to him that she must be growing on him if he was willing to entertain this at all. That, or he was going soft.

And he absolutely was _not_ going soft.

He was having second thoughts and considering calling off the offer altogether when Ahsoka’s expression cleared. She smiled, genuine and bright. “Deal.”

This small crisis averted, he nodded. “All right then. Let’s go meet Obi-Wan and the others.”

“You got it, _Skyguy_ ,” she said, a little _too_ sweetly. Catching his stony expression, she smiled again, cheekily, and slipped past him out the door.

“Yep,” he muttered under his breath as he followed. “Already regretting it.”

**_Fin._ **

**Author's Note:**

> So there it is — my head-canon is that they made a deal because it wouldn’t do to have the 501st — or anyone else — giggling about it, and she still called him that in private or when others wouldn’t hear.
> 
> I tried to get their early-S1 voices right — but if they come off _too_ argumentative, let me know.
> 
> As ever, whatever you thought of it — good, bad, otherwise — please share your thoughts! Comments make my day.


End file.
